Posts Tagged ‘black lung disease’
Confronting Rising Black Lung
Amid an ongoing surge in severe black lung disease among coal miners, federal lawmakers have introduced a number of bills aimed at assisting affected miners and their families. The Inflation Reduction Act shored up funding for benefits, and advocates are pushing for additional measures.
Read MoreBlack Lung Benefit Fund Would See Major Boost from Change to Coal Tax
Changing the structure of a tax that funds federal benefits for miners could bring tens of millions of dollars annually to the cash-strapped Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
Read MoreTighter silica rules needed to protect miners from black lung disease
Coal miners are legally allowed to be exposed to twice as much dangerous silica dust as any other worker. That needs to change.
Read MoreCongress includes one-year extension of black lung excise tax in omnibus spending bill
A one-year extension of the excise tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is included in the 2021 omnibus spending bill. This is the second year in a row that a one-year extension has been included in the spending bill on the brink of expiration. CONTACT: Rebecca Shelton, Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, 859-893-0543,…
Read MoreFederal negligence allowed coal companies to shrug off their responsibility for black lung benefits
For decades, coal companies ignored a federal requirement to provide enough funds for black lung benefits — and the government let them.
Read MoreProgress on healthcare for miners with black lung disease
Congress reinstated a tax to fund healthcare and benefits for miners with black lung and their families for 2020 — but further action is needed to extend the tax and support the fund for 10 years.
Read MoreIntro: The Legacies of Coal
As Appalachia’s coal industry continues to decline, the scale of the damage it has cas becomes even more apparent.
Read MoreBlackjewel’s black lung problem
Bankrupt coal company Blackjewel owes nearly $10 million in taxes to the fund that provides benefits to miners with black lung disease whose employer has gone bankrupt.
Read MoreCalling on Legislators for Action in Washington, D.C.
In July, Appalachian Voices traveled to Capitol Hill alongside about 150 miners, widows and their loved ones to demand Congress to restore proper funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. And in June, we joined other organizations in a visit to D.C. to ask legislators to co-sponsor the RECLAIM Act to fast-track abandoned mine reclamation.
Read MoreMiners Take Black Lung Demands to D.C.
Approximately 150 Appalachian coal miners, widows and their loved ones visited Capitol Hill in July to demand that Congress reinstate a tax rate on coal companies for black lung healthcare and benefits.
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